Celtics[1] center Shaquille O’Neal[2]had stated following his team’s preseason win over the Knicks in Hartford, Oct. 16, that he had been in bigger openers than this season’s meeting against the Miami Heat[3]. O’Neal stated at the time, “In the last 20 years I’ve had bigger openers. It’s big to you guys, but you guys like the hype. Everybody wants to talk about the young team, but the last 10 years I think I’ve been there I think four times and I haven’t seen a young time do it yet … Especially with all the social media ‘¦ I’ve been in much bigger games.”

But after looking at his 18 season-openers in the NBA — which have translated to a 13-5 record for his teams — O’Neal admitted that Tuesday night’s showdown did distinguish itself.

“Maybe ’02 was a big one,” he said, referencing his Lakers’ 87-82 loss to the Spurs. “I guess this probably does rank up there as one of the biggest openers.”

Just moments before looking at the list of his openers, which started with his Magic beating the Heat, 110-92, in 1992, O’Neal commented on how well the media was publicizing the Celtics’ meeting with the Heat.

“All the talk of [the NBA] losing money. Not on Tuesday night we ain’t losing money,” he said.